Group proposes state budget reform

Published: Saturday, February 2, 2013 at 6:42 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, February 2, 2013 at 6:42 p.m.

BATON ROUGE — A group of fiscal conservatives in the state House has proposed a package of constitutional amendments that would significantly alter the way taxpayer money is spent and budgeted.

The band of mostly Republican lawmakers first came to prominence as the so-called Fiscal Hawks by taking a stand against the administration’s use of one-time monies for recurring expenses.

But now they are organized, incorporated and raising money for their mission under the name of the Budget Reform Coalition.

Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, the coalition chairman, said he is looking for support in all corners of Louisiana, including from civic, business and political leaders.

The coalition recently made a presentation to the Legislative Black Caucus and took an invite from a small group of residents in Acadiana to present its vision.

With the state facing a $1.2 billion deficit in the next fiscal year — the latest in a long line of shortfalls and midyear alterations over the past three years — Geymann said several changes must be made.

“We are committed to fixing the broken budget process that results in devastating midyear and year-end budget cuts,” he said. “We are committed to protecting core priorities like health care and higher education that are so important to our people and our state.”

One of the proposed constitutional amendments, which will ultimately require the approval of the Legislature and Louisiana’s voters, would ban the use of one-time monies for recurring expenses.

It would also prohibit the appropriations of money that is not identified by the Revenue Estimating Conference, which is charged with approving the amount the state has to spend.

Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, said he agreed with “most of the tenets” the coalition is proposing.

“But sitting on (the) Senate Finance (Committee), I disagree about the use of one-time monies,” Allain said, “although I do think we should only use that money as a last resort. If we wouldn’t have used one-time monies in the last budget, critical services would have been destroyed.”

Geymann and others argue that using money that will never come again, such as money from a legal settlement as opposed to a tax that is collected annually, for a cost that is incurred regularly is irresponsible.

The coalition is also tackling transparency issues with a proposed constitutional amendment that would give the House and Senate more time to review the budget after the opposite chamber makes changes during a session.

Another planned bill would require final passage of the budget roughly two weeks earlier in the session, “to ensure a more broad-based and transparent budget process,” Geymann said.

Rep. Dee Richard, an independent from Thibodaux, said fiscal conservatives “didn’t get everything they wanted” in the coalition’s final package, but he planned on helping it secure passage nonetheless.

“These are all great first steps,” Richard said. “We’re trying to open up the process and get the budget sooner than we have in the past. These proposals will only serve to strengthen the process.”

Also on the agenda is a constitutional amendment that would help protect money for higher education and health care by ensuring that core priorities are taken care of first.

If a budget contains money for higher education and health care at a level lower than the previous year, the amendment would require the budget be split into non-discretionary and discretionary appropriation bills that would be voted on separately.

The non-discretionary bill would include spending connected to constitutional or other mandates, while the discretionary bill would include obligations that do not necessarily have to be paid for.

Rep. Lance Harris, R–Alexandria, a charter member of the coalition and chair of the Republican Caucus, said all of the proposals are a necessary precursor to any significant changes in the way Louisiana takes in revenue.

“We keep pouring water into our bucket year after year, but it’s clear now that there is a hole in our bucket,” Harris said. “Before we make changes to where we get the water, it would make a whole lot of sense to fix the bucket first.”

For more information on the proposals, visit LaBudgetReform.com.

The coalition is also taking requests for presentations at 337-524-4444 or info@labudgetreform.com.

The regular session convenes April 8.

Jeremy Alford can be reached at jeremy@jeremyalford.com

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